CHASING YOUTH. wsn ✓

010.

i want you to stay with me forever.

—

two months. that was how long until san's teacher called after him one day and decided to give him a tutor. and to no one's surprise, his teacher selected wooyoung.

wooyoung smacked his lip when he entered the science lab and saw choi san sitting on one of the lab stools while the teacher stood behind the teaching bench. wooyoung's eyes met with the teacher and bowed, smiling softly when he came back up, "you've called for me, dr choi?"

san scoffed, which caused wooyoung to bat his eye annoyingly at san while the teacher glared at him. dr choi cleared his throat, nodding, "yes, indeed, wooyoung ssi. i can't help but notice that san ssi's chemistry scores had been going down again since the second month. he used to be average at it at the start of term and sources told me that you were the one that tutored him during the summer. am i correct?"

"yes," wooyoung answered, avoiding glances from san since he didn't want to relive those memories again. it was fun while it lasted, it was beautiful while it lasted. but it wasn't happy nor peaceful for either of them to relive the past, "that's right, sir."

dr choi hummed. he sat down on his chair that made him look so much shorter and wooyoung had to refrain from laughing — dr choi was not a tall person to begin with. "that's great. i was wondering if you were up for some tutoring?"

"tutor—tutoring choi san, sir?" wooyoung stammered. no, he did not want to go through the entire thing again. he didn't want to go through having his heart stolen by choi san and have it broken all over again even after an apology. even after a heartfelt apology that wooyoung said and ended with...

yeah, wooyoung had not successfully remove that day from his memories.

"did the teacher stutter, wooyoung ssi?" san intervened, pushing himself up right and now had his palms slammed against the lab table. wooyoung turned around and glared at him. san scoffed, "what? you don't wanna tutor the king himself? fine, i don't want someone like you to tutor me anyway. dr choi, can you-"

"stop talking!" dr choi yelled, causing the two boys to look at him instead of each other (which was kind of sickly romantic in some way). "it is final; wooyoung ssi, you will tutor san ssi until he at least gets an average of 60%. i know you have a long way to go, san ssi, but it will only benefit you in the future rather than damage you. can i trust you both to use this lab for tutoring until san ssi reaches his desirable grade?"

wooyoung looked behind him to see san fuming, the 'king' sitting back down on his stool and crossed his arms in front of his chest. pathetic, wooyoung thought, how pathetic must he be to feel petty about this?

"of course, sir." wooyoung replied, smiling smugly as he saw the frown deepened on san's face and the flame behind san's caramel eyes burning ablaze. "you can trust us."

dr choi mumbled something amongst the lines of 'i only trust you, wooyoung ssi' and told the two to arrange some time to do the tutoring and tell him when they do so. they both promised that they would, only that wooyoung sounded more cheeky as usual and san more grumbly than usual.

"okay, what the fuck do you want with me? you left me that day on the rooftop and now you wanna tutor me? is that it? you just want me in your pants, little princey?" san exploded the moment dr choi went out of the lab. he was standing again, only this time, his eyes were tinted with anger and his teeth gritted to show his frustration.

wooyoung rolled his eyes, "no, your majesty. i don't want to get into your pants. plus, you were the one that kissed me! when you had a fucking girlfriend! of course i pushed you away and left you that day. it's wrong to cheat, whether or not you're being kissed by someone you like!"

the two fell into silence afterwards, the words that wooyoung said sinking deeply into both of their minds. wooyoung's face started flushing red when he realised what came out of his mouth, "w-what i meant w-was—"

"huh, who would've known that the prince had feelings for me?" san laughed. he jabbed his finger into wooyoung's chest and with minimal force, the younger was stumbling back towards dr choi's teaching bench, his back hitting against it.

san walked over and placed both his hands on either side of wooyoung's hips, leaning down so he would match with wooyoung's height, "so you do want a piece of me after all, don't you? don't worry, princey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. everyone wants a piece of king san."

wooyoung would've vomited at how san addressed himself with third person, if not for the situation he was in right now. san's closeness almost made it impossible for wooyoung to breathe, and quite frankly, wooyoung was actually starting to feel his heart beat pick up — in a bad way.

wooyoung felt his heart being clenched, or stepped on, or jumped on — whatever. point was, something was on his fucking heart and he couldn't breathe. he placed a hand on his heart, panting and gasping for air. wooyoung's chest rose up and down quickly, almost too quickly for his breathing to be normal.

san frowned, "princey, are you quite alright-"

wooyoung collapsed. he held onto san's arm, pulling the older down as well. wooyoung tried to take in air. more air, less air, he didn't care. he just needed air.

"hey, hey, calm down, alright?" san gripped onto wooyoung's arms, holding his sides as wooyoung tried to catch his breath. wooyoung shook his head. he closed his eyes. he opened his mouth wider to try and take in more air. it wasn't helping. nothing was working. please. wooyoung just needed to breathe.

san knelt in front of wooyoung and smiled at him, "hey. wooyoung. young-ah, can you focus on me?"

wooyoung nodded. his eyes were still closed, but he could hear san clearly. "sweetheart, i need you to open your eyes."

wooyoung opened his eyes. his chest still rose up and down rapidly, but behind wooyoung's eyes, he was trying hard. he was trying hard to focus on san.

"great job, sweetheart." san's smile stretched wider. "okay, focus on my breathing. in, one two—"

wooyoung followed suit, he sucked in a deep breath and held it with san, encouraged with san's smile. "out, three four." san said, breathing out and wooyoung following his breathing pattern. san chuckled, "that's it, sweetheart. let's do it again, yeah?"

the two was still in each other's arms and wooyoung's breathing rate slowly came back to a normal pace. wooyoung slumped against the teacher's bench, panting and laying his head against it, "thanks. thanks a lot, sannie."

san raised an eyebrow at the nickname but shook his head, "no worries, wooyoung. it's alright."

for a second, the two forgot about their temporary rivalry. the two were taken back to the night when san brought wooyoung to a party and then to see the stars, where they wished upon a shooting star and made it the most memorable night of their summer. as much as the two boys tried to deny their feelings for each other, one thing's absolutely clear and certain in their mind:

they don't ever want to be apart from each other.